Inflatable garment for intermittent compression therapy

ABSTRACT

An inflatable garment (12, 12&#39;, 46) for use in intermittent compression therapy includes a foot portion (36, 36&#39;, 74) formed by a plurality of inflatable sacs(s). The sacs are arranged such that when inflated pressure is applied thereby inwardly of the foot portion predominantly from above and from below a notional substantially horizontal plane (h) passing centrally through the foot portion of the garment.

TECHNICAL FIELD

This invention relates to an inflatable garment for use in intermittentcompression therapy and more particularly to a garment having a portionwhich substantially encases a patient's foot to be treated. Such agarment may also further include a leg portion which encasessubstantially the whole leg i.e. both calf and thigh; the lower leg i.ecalf; or which further includes only an ankle portion. However, thepresent invention is concerned with improvements to the foot portion ofsuch a garment and reference herein to leg garment is to be understoodas including any of the garment forms referred to above.

BACKGROUND ART

Known inflatable leg garments are formed from a double skinned fabricblank which comprises integral mirror image leg-shaped parts. The blankis folded in half so that the leg shaped parts are brought intosuperposed relationship. Thereafter, a zip fastener is inserted in orderto provide an openable front seam and the foot portions of theleg-shaped parts are welded and stitched together thereby forming agenerally leg-shaped inflatable enclosure having a zip seam `s` and awelded seam `w` as shown in FIG. 7.

In use, the garment is fitted about a patient's limb to be treated andcyclically is inflated and deflated to apply intermittent compression tothe patient's limb. Whilst the known garment construction is generallysatisfactory, the pressure applied by the foot portion during inflationof the garment can cause considerable pain to the patient because of theconstricting shape which the foot portion of the garment is caused toadopt during inflation.

DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION

The present invention seeks to improve the configuration of the garmentfoot portion so as to provide an equivalent or improved intermittentcompression therapy as compared with that given by known garmentconstructions whilst giving better comfort to the user and alleviatingthe pain.

To this end, the invention provides an inflatable garment for use inintermittent compression thereapy, which garment includes a foot portionprovided by a plurality of inflatable sacs characterised in that theinflatable sacs are arranged such that, when inflated, pressure isapplied thereby inwardly of the foot portion predominantly from aboveand from below a notional substantially horizontal plane passingcentrally through the foot portion of the garment.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Embodiments of the invention will now be described, by way of example,with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a plan view of a preferred fabric blank comprising twosuperposed sheets of material secured together to form an inflatablegarment;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a garment in inflated condition as seenfrom the underside of the foot portion and formed from the fabric blankshown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a plan view of another fabric blank comprising two superposedsheets of material secured together to form an inflatable garment;

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a garment in inflated condition as seenfrom the underside of the foot and formed from the fabric blank shown inFIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a plan view of yet another fabric blank comprising twosuperposed sheets of material secured together to form an inflatablegarment; and

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of a garment in inflated condition as seenfrom the underside of the foot portion and formed from the fabric blankshown in FIG. 4.

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of a known garment in inflated condition asseen from the underside of the foot portion.

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Referring first to FIGS. 1 and2, there is shown a leg garment blank 10 for forming an inflatablegarment 12. The blank is formed from two superposed sheets 14,16 ofmaterial which will form outer and inner `skins` of the garments, eachcomprising a woven Nylon (registered trade mark) substrate to one faceof which a polyeurathane coating is applied. The sheets are highfrequency welded together adjacent their peripheries with their coatedsurfaces juxtaposed so that a continuous peripheral seal 18 is formed.An inflation socket 20 is welded about an aperture provided in the outersheet 14 so that the garment can be attached to a source of pressurefluid and inflated. A zip fastener 22, 24 is stitched to the opposedsides of the blank so as to form a central forward facing openable seam26 on the garment.

In this embodiment which is a preferred form of the invention, thecoated material used produces a fluidtight garment. However, it isenvisaged that the garment need not be wholly fluidtight provided thatthe fluid leakage therefrom during inflation is less than the volume offluid supplied.

Indeed, it is envisaged that the inner skin of the garment may be formedof a porous material or one which is given porosity by the formationtherein of a multiplicity of orifices, thereby providing a `vented`garment. It is thought that such a vented garment may have the advantageof cooling and/or ventilating the patient's skin in the area where thegarment is worn and also in accelerating wound healing where an openwound is present in such area. The feature of providng a vented garmentis not restricted to the foot or leg garments described herein but isapplicable to garments adapted to be worn on other parts of the body e.garm garments which may comprise a simple double-skinned sleeve with orwithout an openable seam such as a zip fastener.

The blank includes a sole portion 28 which, in part, is defined byperipheral seal portion 18c and a weld seam 30. Weld seam 30 extendsfrom the junction between peripheral seal portions 18a and 18b towards,but stopping short of the end edge 32 of the blank and seals sheets 14and 16 together along its length. A gap `g` is left between the sheetsof material through which pressure fluid e.g air can flow to inflate thesole portion 28 during inflation of the garment.

In order to form the completed garment, marginal parts of the sheetsadjacent the peripheral seal portions 18a and 18b are secured togetheras by stitching, and likewise, marginal parts of the sheets adjacent theperipheral seal portions 18c and 18d are secured together to form seal34 (FIG. 2).

When the garment 12 is worn during use and inflated, the foot portion 36is caused to form three distended `sacs` S1, S2 and S3 respectively. SacS1 is formed by inflation of the sole portion 28 between seams 30 and34. The inner surface 38 of sac S1 provides a `platform` which meets asubstantially horizontal notional plane `h` passing through the footportion on which a patient's foot rests. Pressure is applied upwardly bysac S1. Sacs S2 and S3 are formed by parts of the foot portion betweenseams 26/34 and 26/30 respectively, each of which has an inner surface40,42 which applies pressure generally downwardly towards the notionalhorizontal plane `h` containing inner surface 38 of sac S1.

Hence, pressure is applied to a patient's foot by inflation of the threesacs predominantly from above and from below a horizontal plane passingthrough the foot portion of the garment.

In use, the garment cyclically is inflated and deflated so as to applyan intermittent compression thereapy to a patient's leg and foot. Whenthe foot portion is constructed as described above, the patient's footis allowed to remain substantially flat and straight between the sacs sothat discomfort arising from pinching of the skin or sideways squeezingof the foot and toes is minimized.

FIGS. 3 and 4 illustrate a further embodiment of the invention in whicha leg garment blank 10' is provided to form an inflatable garment 12'.As in the previous embodiment, the blank is formed from two superposedsheets 14', 16' of material welded together adjacent their peripheriesto form a continuous peripheral seal 18'. An inflation socket 20' isprovided in outer sheet 14' and a zip fastener 22',24' is stitched inthe opposed sides of the blank 10' so as to form a central, forwardfacing openable seam 26' on the garment.

The blank includes a sole portion 28' which is defined, in part, byperipheral seal portions 18e' and 18f'.

In order to form the completed garment, marginal parts of the sheetsadjacent peripheral seal portions 18e' and 18g' are secured together asby stitching, and likewise marginal parts of the sheets adjacent theperipheral seal portions 18f' and 18h' are also stitched together.

When the garment 12' is worn during use and inflated, foot portion 36'is caused to form three distended `sacs` S4,S5 and S6, respectively. SacS4 is formed by inflation of the sole portion 28' between seams18g'-18e' and 18f'-18h'. The inner surface 38' of sac S4 provides a`platform` which meets a substantially horizontal plane `h1` passingthrough the foot portion on which a patient's foot rests. Pressure isapplied upwardly by sac S4. Sacs S5 and S6 are formed by parts of thefoot portion between seams 26'/18e'-18g' and 26'/18f'-18h' respectively,each of which has an inner surface 40',42' which applies pressuregenerally downwardly towards the notional plane `h1` containing innersurface 38' of sac S4.

FIGS. 5 and 6 illustrate a still further embodiment of the invention inwhich a leg garment blank 44 is provided to form inflatable garment 46.As in the previous embodiments the blank is formed from two superposedsheets 48,50 of material welded together adjacent their peripheries toform a continuous peripheral seal 52. An inflation socket 54 is providedin outer sheet 48 and a zip fastener 56,58 is stitched to the opposedsides of the blank 44 so as to form a central, forward facing, openableseam 60 on the garment.

The blank includes a sole portion 62,64 which is, in part, defined byperipheral seal portions 52a and 52b and an arcuate weld seam 66 whichseals sheets 48 and 50 together along its length. The weld seam 66 maybe interrupted intermediate its ends to provide a two-part seam, onepart in each side of the foot portion. The weld seam 66 stops short ofthe end edges 68 and 70 of the blank thus creating gaps g1 and g2between the sheets of material through which pessure fluid can flow whenthe garment is inflated.

In order to form the completed garment, marginal parts of the sheetadjacent the peripheral seal portions 52a and 52b are secured togetheras by stitching to form a central sole seam 72 (FIG. 6).

When the garment 46 is worn during use and inflated, the foot portion 74is caused to form four distended `sacs` S7,S8,S9, S10, respectively.Sacs S7 and S8 are formed by the sole portion 62/64 between the left andright parts of seam 66 and sole seam 72. The inner surfaces 76,78 ofsacs S7 and S8 together provide a `platform` which meets a substantiallyhorizontal notional plane `h2` passing through the foot portion on whicha patient's foot rests. Pressure is applied upwardly by sacs S7 and S8.Sacs S9 and S10 are formed by parts of the foot portion between the leftand right parts of seam 66 and central zip seam 60. Each of sacs S9 andS10 has an inner surface 80 and 82, respectively which applies pressuregenerally downwardly towards the notional horizontal plane `h2`,containing surfaces 76,78 of sacs S7 and S8.

FIG. 7 shows a garment of known construction, which is formed from ablank similar to that shown in FIG. 5. However, in the knownconstruction, the weld seam 66 is not present, so that when the garmentis inflated, the foot portion forms two `sacs` SL and SR which applypressure inwardly about a notional vertical plane `p`. This arrangementoften causes considerable discomfort to a wearer since a restrictivesideways force is applied to the foot as previously referred to.

What is claimed is:
 1. An inflatable legging garment (12,12',46) for usein intermittent compression therapy which garment includes a footportion (36, 36',74) provided by a plurality of inflatable sacs (S),characterised in that the inflatable sacs are arranged such that, wheninflated, pressure is applied thereby inwardly of the foot portionpredominantly from above and from below a notional substantiallyhorizontal plane (h) passing centrally through the foot portion of thegarment.
 2. An inflatable legging garment according to claim 1, furthercharacterised in that a single sac (S₁,S₄) is disposed below saidnotional substantially horizontal plane which sac has an inner surface(38,38') which provides a platform on which a wearer's foot is restedand an outer surface providing a sole portion (28,28') of the garment.3. An inflatable legging garment according to claim 1, furthercharacterised in that a pair of sacs (S₇,S₈) is disposed below saidnotional substantially horizontal plane each of which sacs has an innersurface (76,78) which provides a platform on which a wearer's foot isrested and an outer surface providing part of a sole portion (62,64) ofthe garment.
 4. An inflatable legging garment according to either ofclaims 2 or 3, further characterised in that a pair of sacs (S₂,S₃;S₅,S₆ ; S₉,S₁₀) is disposed above said notional substantiallyhorizontal plane.
 5. An inflatable legging garment according to any ofclaims 2 or 3, further characterised in that each sac disposed belowsaid notional substantially horizontal plane is defined at least in partby a pair of spaced weld seams formed in the material from which thegarment is fabricated.